A different world
by LeighJ11
Summary: An AU to my other fic, Be still my beating heart. The future is alternated by a million different decisions every second of every minute and every single decision delivers a different result, a different world. Rated M, as usual.
1. Chapter 1

**So, apparently, I am arrogant enough to make an alternate universe of my own fic, who knew? This is the AU of my other piece** Be still my beating heart **and you don't really need to read that one to understand this one, but it might be preferable. There will be one other chapter after this and then my attention finally goes to** Tonight I wanna dance for you. **Also, if you have read** Be still my beating heart, **then don't be confused that the start of this is the same as that. There was a certain point I wanted to deviate from so it had to be written like this.**

There's a lot of things that have made Beth Greene's heart stop in her lifetime and it's happened more in the last few years than ever before, for several reasons, near death experience's being the main one, such as walker teeth inches from her flesh, but there has been one other reason, wheedled down to one man in particular: Daryl Dixon.

The very first time was when she saw him riding up to her house on the farm, hair short and blonde, face less lined and weathered. The very last time was when she said that word, that word weighted in everything that could happen between them, soaked in memories to come and a love yet to be shared.

Oh.

After that, she was taken and she wasn't sure her heart was going to be beating for that much longer anyway. There wasn't another chance for him to stop it with surprise, with excitement, with terror. Until now, as she faces him for the first time in a long time, so different from the very first time, everything different now.

His hair and his clothes, the fight gone from his shoulders, the sky dark and cold, unfamiliar in a way the farm could never be. Most different of all is how she feels inside, like a scooped-out shell, waiting to be filled, dirty and bedraggled, hungry and exhausted and aching. On a lonely road on a lonely night they meet eyes and even though before it had been racing with adrenaline, her heart stops.

For a moment, there's nothing but Daryl's yawning pupil until a bush rustles close, too close, close enough for her to panic; then the voices of several men fill the space, push out the silence, loud enough to make her flinch, her hand to tremble at her side. Daryl's eyes flicker to the bush and then to her and the panic she sees in them, in the eyes of a man not easily scared, makes her throat close in terror.

"Claimed."

The word rings through the air like a gunshot and Beth flinches again, even rocks back on her feet like she's been hit. The group of men come to a stop, take her in stood not a few feet before them, covered in blood. Then they look at Daryl, who said the word, who is vibrating so hard Beth's eyes hurt to watch him.

A much older man in a rose shirt and with grey hair steps forward, takes the centre, directly between Daryl and Beth and she watches Daryl tense up as the man speaks. "What'd we got here then? You lost, little girl? Looks like you got yourself in a right mess, huh?"

"I claimed her, Joe. Rules are rules," Daryl spits, taking a step forward.

The man -Joe- holds up his hand and Daryl stops. Beth's stomach clenches at his submission. Who is this man, to make Daryl Dixon do as he's told? She takes a step forward and falters when Joe's eyes turn sharply to her, pinning her with a look that freezes her whole body. "Let the lady talk, Daryl. Go on, doll."

Beth's hand falls to her knife at her hip, the skin of her fingers crinkling with dry blood. "Ain't none of your damn business who I am."

"Ho-ho, she's got fire boys!" Joe crows and there's raucous laughter from the group of men further behind Daryl. He turns back to face her with a smile that makes her skin crawl. "How 'bout you tell us how a pretty little thang like you got covered in all that blood, hmm?"

The world swims a little in her vision like a filter has been lifted for her and Beth clenches her knife, still sheathed. All those screams ringing in her head until her eyes water and she glances at Daryl, at his tight eyes, his hands on the crossbow. He nods at her, just a tiny bit, only an incline of his head but she knows what she has to do, knows without conferring the plan they must put in place.

Beth swallows, releases her knife, sets a quiver to her voice that isn't quite fake and takes a step forward. "I k-killed people," she stutters and Joe's eyes tighten. "I didn't mean to!" She shouts on the tail end of a sob, two more steps closer. "They were tryin' to hurt me."

"Aw, doll, s'alright, we'll look after ya, won't we boys?" Joe turns to the crowd again, like he can't resist it and gets a holler before he turns back to Beth, startles a little when he sees how close she is.

The look slides away as he reaches out a thick hand and curves his fingers over her cheek. She whimpers; falls against his chest despite nausea rolling around in her stomach, the acid pooling in the back of her throat.

"You promise?" She simpers.

"I promise, honey. Now, what's your name, huh?" His fingers stroke her cheek and her whole spine goes rigid, despite her best efforts, as he swipes through dry blood.

"Beth," she breathes against his mouth, stretching on her tiptoes. Her stomach tightens at his breath but a smirk curves her mouth as his hand falls to her ass cheek, squeezes it. "I gotta tell you somethin' important."

She can see Daryl out the corner of her eye, so tense, his fingers tight on the crossbow, feet planted. Beth tilts her neck back a little, resists the urge to grit her teeth as the man uses her ass to roll their hips together, feels his cock growing hard. "What's that, honey?"

She smiles, sweet as can be, rolling her hips back and watching Joe's eyes alight with lust. "You should never have let me this close to your face."

"Whoa-ho!"

Everything slams to a halt before she can do what she intends because suddenly Joe is gripping her face in his hand, squeezing so tight her teeth cut into her cheeks. "Doll, tell me you wasn't…" he laughs like it's completely absurd. "Tell me you wasn't gonna try tear my throat out with your damn _teeth_?"

"Don't fuckin' touch her!" Daryl shouts and then grunts like he was hit.

"Guess you two know each other then?" Joe laughs and his band of merry men laugh too like it's just so fucking funny. "Now see, Daryl, I wasn't plannin' on hurtin' her, but y'know, this little bitch just tried to rip my damn throat out, so I'm thinkin' I get to slap her about a bit, right?"

"You do that, an' I rip your _dick_ off, let the walkers finish ya."

Joe stares at her with a devilish smile, curling her insides and then releases her face. She gasps for breath as he turns to Daryl who, when she looks over, is being held back by two of Joe's men, another having taken his crossbow. They both stare at each other, Joe and Daryl and then Joe, without looking away from Daryl, without even aiming, swings his arm down.

The flat of his palm strikes her across her face _hard_ and she drops to the side under the brutality of it, barely catching herself on her hand to save a bash to the head. She can already tell her lip has split open because there's hot blood pouring down her chin and the palms of her hands are ruined from the gravel, the bones of her right wrist screaming and _fuck_ , she's pretty sure it's broken.

Daryl howls in the background and she looks up through her hair, finds him fighting with the two men who hold him captive, a matching split lip for his troubles. They connect eyes and she pins him under the look she gives him until he goes limp. _We can do this_ , she conveys with her eyes. _Together, like we always do._

Beth tries to get to her feet because that's nothing, not even a score on the beatings she's taken in the most recent events of her life, but he put some real force behind the smack and she's dizzy, which is why it's easy for him to shove her to her knees. She moans, despite all her effort not to, her frayed jeans tearing at the knees and destroying her skin.

Seemingly not happy with his decision, Joe then grabs her by her hair and yanks her to her feet, a network of hot, sharp pains driving into her skull until her eyes water. She tries to fight against him, reaching her hands up to his fingers in her hair but he lands a jab to her ribs and her breath bursts out of her, hunching over her own belly.

"Stop! Leave her alone! What'd you want? I'll do it, just don't touch her no more! Stop _fuckin'_ hurtin' her!" Daryl shouts, once more struggling in his captives hold.

"Well for one, you can stop fuckin' around before I hit her hard enough to break a rib," Joe says over her head, his hand yanking at her head again so that she's upright.

Daryl immediately goes pliant. "Stop hurtin' her, she ain't done nothin'."

Joe scoffs incredulously. "If I hadn't been quick 'nough this little whore would'a killed me! That what you wanted though, huh? So, you could run off and play happy families? Lemme guess, you been lookin' for this little slut, right?"

Daryl clenches his jaw but she stares hard enough to communicate one command: _shut the fuck up._ When Joe gets no answer, he smiles, wide and lecherous. "Alrite, so you want your woman, right? Your prize? I mean, you did claim her, huh? So, here's what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna let you have her."

With shockingly cold precision, she understands exactly what he means even as Daryl frowns in confusion and before he can ask what's going on, she says, "he wants us to fuck."

Daryl baulks. "She's a fuckin' kid you sick fuck."

Joe over dramatically frowns and looks her over, his hand still gripping her hair tight as he surveys her whole body with dark, hungry eyes and looks around her to her ass, which he grips tight in his hand, despite Beth's clenched teeth. "All I see is woman. I mean, I can do it myself-"

"No," Beth cuts in, staring at Daryl. "He'll do it. We'll do what you want, you get your rocks off an' then you let us go."

Joe leans close to her ear, speaking low but loud enough for at least Daryl to hear. "You make sure I get my rocks off an' then we'll see 'bout lettin' you go. Got it?"

When she doesn't answer he shakes her and she grunts, fireworks exploding behind her eyes. "Yeah, I got it."

"Good," Joe replies, looking at his men and Daryl. "Let's get movin' then."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you like! Now I finally have an empty plate to focus on** Tonight I wanna dance for you.

Joe stopped dragging her by her hair a while back, but now his thick, meaty hand has her by both wrists and every time she stumbles over a thick tree root, he squeezes her broken wrist so hard she sees stars. Beth doesn't make a sound though because she's survived more than a pervert in a creepy shirt. He doesn't like it when she doesn't whimper and beg, so he increasingly squeezes tighter, watching her face with sick glee for any sign of a twitch or a moan. But she's stubborn, gets it from Maggie and even though her wrist screeches in agony and no doubt will be forever ruined from his sadistic-ness, she's solid as stone.

Finally, he gets bored with this game and he chats to his fellow men about stupid ass stuff, despite the fact that he's dragging along two hostages and wants to watch them fuck. Daryl is being pushed forward up ahead of her, so they can't meet eyes or communicate in the way they have been. Even still, she's pretty sure they're on the same weird, adrenaline pumped line of thought and when she stumbles down, her hands stretched out before her, Joe's hand slips from her wrists long enough for her fingers to hook into Daryl's, held behind him and whilst they're a jumbled mess on the floor, Joe crowing to get them up, she slips him the rock.

They're both dragged to their feet and then Joe rags her hard whilst the men who hold Daryl cuff him upside the head. "Stop bein' so fuckin' clumsy you dumb little bitch."

Beth clenches her teeth and watches Daryl's fingers curl over the rock against his spine, clamped in his flesh for the rest of their walk.

Finally, Joe calls, "this'll do."

They've arrived at a house, fairly large and white. It's now or never and when Daryl looks over his shoulder at her, she nods. Internally she praises high school gymnastics and jerks her wrists out of Joe's hold, her hands thrown out to Daryl's shoulders and fuck, her wrist feels like fucking fire but by some goddamn miracle her hands catch and her legs swing up behind her, slamming her foot straight into Joe's oncoming face. He grunts and falls back, stumbles down to the ground as Daryl's arms explode outwards, sending two fists into the men beside him and embedding the rock she gave him into one mans eye socket.

He cries out something awful and wounded, collapsing beside the man with Daryl's crossbow. Beth slams her foot down on his arm so that with a startled cry he releases his grip. Daryl grabs his crossbow up as she turns to Joe, who's made it to his feet. He grins at her and she smiles back, coy and young, watching him advance until Daryl's heat is at her back and she ducks, the crossbow whistling through the air and the butt of it slamming into Joe's face before it swings back to the guy behind Daryl. She shoots to her feet and they grip hands without looking, clasp tight and run.

* * *

Beth has no idea how far they run or how long but she knows that they passed the road she found Daryl on miles back and her lungs are full of fire. They tumble down into a field of high grass not long after, hidden in a curve at the side of a high road. She's breathless, dizzy; stars in her eyes but it's so much like old times with Daryl that she starts laughing, breathless, almost manic.

Her head rolls over to look at Daryl and he's looking at her already, their chests heaving, their breathing loud and she's not really sure who rolls closer or who even decided to do it but suddenly they're kissing and he's rolled on top of her, cocooning her in his heat and his body and his shadow, swallowing her whole.

It's wild, hurried, downright reckless but they start stripping, her top coming off and then his shirt, their mouths hot and slick in the balmy night. Then he's tearing at her jeans and this is so fucking stupid, Joe could be right behind them or walkers could be in the trees, hidden in the dark and she's so conscious of how bloody she is, practically covered in it. It's reckless, but quite suddenly he's pulling her legs over his shoulders and driving into her, his cock hard and thick and pounding her without mercy, his hands gripping her tight as he fucks her aching cunt.

Their moans and their breathing and the sound of their skin meeting is so loud, so dangerous but for some sick, fucked up reason, that makes it so much better. They're literally on the edge of dying, walkers not far off and Joe not far off either and they've been torn apart but they were thrown back together again, for some reason and it might be this reason, this chance. This could be their very last act in the world, the last choice they make in their lives and it's so heady, so intoxicating that she's screaming her release to the sky, calling all the enemies forward.

Daryl groans and squeezes her, bruises her and she feels every imprint of his fingers even when he falls over her, hands braced in the grass by her head and his cum filling her with thick ropes of heat. No time to think about it, talk about it, talk about what could happen from their crazed fucking because she can hear walkers groaning not far off. They dress rapidly, his hand taking up the crossbow and his free one gripping hers as they keep running, even weighed down as they are by orgasms and sweat. So much more running and it's nearly dawn, nearly a new day when they hear the snapping of twigs under heavy feet.

Daryl raises the bow and she fumbles for her knife but she didn't get it back from Joe. The crossbow is ready to fire and then suddenly two faces come out of the treeline and she doesn't know what she feels, but Daryl's arm goes slack and she's cradling her wrist but she goes down on her knees at the same time her sister does and then they're crying and hugging and she looks over Maggie's shoulder to smile at Glenn.

"C'mon." Maggie pulls away and cups her face with a smile. "Let's find the rest of 'em."

 **Yeah, like I was going to let Joe watch them! Also, I basically created this whole thing just so Maggie and Glenn lived, unlike** Be still my beating heart **and also unlike that fic, Beth was not a virgin here. Hey, it's an AU, I can do what I want!**


End file.
